


Never Let Me Go

by xLoveMx



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Caleb Widogast Needs a Hug, F/M, Widojest - Freeform, like REALLY soft for each other, spoilers for Episode 101, they're also soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25280422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLoveMx/pseuds/xLoveMx
Summary: “You.” It was just one word, so simple and small that it shouldn’t have had the impact it did.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 10
Kudos: 157





	Never Let Me Go

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo I made some people cry on twitter, so I figured I had to elaborate on that a little! :P

Almost everyone had passed out immediately after they had settled down for the night. The climate on this island wasn’t what most of them were used to, and the fight with whatever the hell it had been that Beau had attracted had worn them out. No one had been seriously injured, but they were all worn out and mostly out of spells.

The dome was a little crowded with Viridian there now too, but they had all somehow managed to find their own little space to curl up and sleep. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be enough to get them a good night’s sleep before they went on to face whatever was posing as a God on this island.

Caleb had been doing some reading, his eyes drifting over to Jester every now and then, who was the only other person who hadn’t gone to sleep. She had her sketch book open, and Caleb knew that she was doodling the creature they had been fighting, and probably Viridian as an owl, before adding googly eyes to all of it. It made him smile against his better judgement, and he almost scolded himself for it, when her voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Caleb?” She whispered, shuffling a little closer so she was next to him, sketch book now closed and resting in her lap. “Can I ask you something?”

Closing his own book and carefully putting it away, Caleb nodded. Her knee was brushing against his own and it was incredibly distracting, but he couldn’t let himself give into it, because her face had gone from concentration and an occasional smile to a slightly worried expression. “Of course,” He then found himself replying and Jester was quiet for a moment, fiddling with the hem of her dress.

“I...know you don’t like to talk about all the stuff that happened to you but...I know it makes you sad.” He could feel his chest tightening ever so slightly at her words but stayed silent. “And...I am a little worried about this place making people forget. Like...not for Traveler Con because you know, they might have shitty lives so being here for them will be better, and the Traveler doesn’t want that many followers anyways, but...worried about...you know, you.”

“About me?” Caleb couldn’t help but ask, his own worry now mixing with a hint of guilt. He had learned that being part of this family meant that people cared about him, even if he didn’t want them to, but he didn’t want to cause them any pain, especially not her.

“Yeah like...you don’t want to just stay here and forget, right? Because we’d miss you terribly.”

“Hm...huh.” This definitely wasn’t a conversation he thought he’d be having tonight, much less with Jester, but he could see the worry in her eyes as she glanced up at him and it made his stomach flip in a rather unpleasant way.

“I think...it’s tricky. There’s...things about my past I would much rather not remember, at least sometimes, but...it’s not like you can choose which memories you give away and which ones you keep, and there’s definitely things I want to remember. People I don’t want to forget.”

There was a pause as Jester gripped the hem of her dress a little tighter and he watched her nod. “Astrid?” Her voice was quiet and almost fragile to the point that it broke Caleb’s heart. It was a side, and vulnerability, they didn’t get to see very often when it came to her and maybe that was the reason he ended up saying what he did without thinking about it beforehand and deciding that it could potentially be a bad idea.

“You.” It was just one word, so simple and small that it shouldn’t have had the impact it did, but Caleb watched as Jester’s eyes lit up and before he could even say anything else she had thrown her arms around him with such force that he almost tumbled backwards and out of the dome. He caught her, barely remembering how to breathe as she buried her face into his neck, just holding on for what felt like an eternity.

Somewhere in the dome Caduceus shifted from one side to another and Beau swatted Veth’s hand away from her face, which resulted in some halfhearted swearing before things quieted down again. Caleb hadn’t moved, just held on to Jester as he let himself be selfish just this once. Jester was warm against him, her familiar scent washing over his senses and making him a little dizzy.

“Don’t...go anywhere I can’t, yeah?” Jester eventually mumbled, pulling back ever so slightly to look at him. Her eyes were shimmering a little and she was now fiddling with the hem of his shirt because it was within her reach. “Promise me, yeah?”

“ _Ja_. I promise.” He then found himself replying, because he couldn’t leave, even if he tried. That night in Rexxentrum, when he had gone to see Astrid, he had thought about staying, knowing that she would let him, but then his thoughts had drifted to Jester and even though it sounded incredibly stupid, because she had no idea he was feeling, and even if she did it wouldn’t have mattered, it would have felt like a betrayal. So, Caleb had left and gone back to the Inn they’d been staying at. He had stopped at Jester’s door, just staring for a moment, thinking about how he had gotten to this point in his life, before heading to bed eventually. Being in uselessly in love with her hurt, and yet he found that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Okay.” Her voice pulled him back yet again as she settled down into her spot for the night, pulling him along. Caleb went without resistance, eyes turned towards the trees and branches that were restricting their view of the night sky.

Jester’s hand found his again, intertwining their fingers, and he found his heart missing a beat. “Good night, Caleb.” She muttered, face buried into his shoulder as she held on, almost as if she was trying to make sure he was still there when she woke up.

“Good night, Jester.” He whispered in return, the hint of a smile tugging on his lips as he let his eyes drift shut.


End file.
